Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) Read online

  Destination: Mars.

  Please proceed to your ship as soon as possible.

  A small icon appeared on Alan’s map, a spaceship of some sort, probably the Grasshopper.

  Well I guess that answers that question… Lead the way, Alan thought.

  A green line appeared on the ground, showing him a path to the ship. Glancing outside, Alan saw a few soldiers in mechanized armor running past. They appeared to be holding laser rifles.

  Are you sure this is safe? Alan asked Eve.

  Both sides are avoiding firing upon new players. Do not engage anyone in combat and you should be fine.

  Drawing a deep breath, Alan burst out of the hangar he was hiding in, sprinting as fast as he could. Alan kept his head down, following the green line before him. Better safe than sorry.

  He heard a soldier call out to him. He continued running, adrenaline pumping. A minute later along the path Alan was completely winded, panting, slowing to a walk as he glanced around and saw no one. Maybe he should have worked out more in real life… this correlation to his real life endurance certainly explained why all the people the companies were hiring to play the Game looked super fit.

  The path Alan was following led him along a runway parallel to the hangars. Behind him, acrid black smoke hung above where the tent had been. The ships he’d seen approaching were now overhead, small jets shooting lasers at the ground. The jets weaved back and forth in the air, far more nimble than any aircraft Alan had seen before, reversing as though inertia wasn’t a thing.

  A man in a black jumpsuit turned a corner from behind one of the hangars. He raised his assault rifle at Alan. Alan raised his hands up in the air, yelling "I surrender! I surrender!" The man glanced at Alan, then continued to scan his surroundings.

  Alan let out a held breath, about to say something, when a sword emerged from the man's chest. There was little blood, and the wound was slightly pixelated. The man fell to the floor, dead.

  Amazed, Alan looked behind the man to find an Asian girl about his age, wearing some sort of dark navy blue martial arts robe. Alan thought it might be called a hakama, or something like that, but that was only what he remembered from watching too much anime. The sword was a katana, according to Eve, which likely made the girl Japanese.

  "Um, thanks, I'm, uh, I'm an innocent bystander," Alan said, trying to get a better look at the girl’s face. She turned and stared at him. She had fierce brown eyes and a few scars on her face. Unlike almost every other girl Alan had ever known, it didn't look like she was wearing any makeup. Handsome leapt to his mind before pretty. And deadly.

  She began raising her sword.

  "Wait! Aren't you Kitana?" Alan said. "Icewolf told me you were in this batch of tutorial recruits, he showed me a picture of you, as you'd already entered the Game. Our capsules are like right next to each other in real life!"

  Kitana paused, lowering her weapon, staring at Alan.

  "You are Adampwnage?" Kitana asked.

  "Huh? No! I mean yes, but call me Alan. Adampwnage was the stupid username I thought would be cool in high school, going by Adam instead of Alan because my mom didn't want me using my real name. Icewolf registered me under that name without asking me.”

  "We should proceed to our respective ships."

  "Um, right," Alan said. Kitana nodded at him, then began sprinting off in another direction. Sighing to himself, Alan watched her go. He continued along the path Eve set. He was nearing the hangar the Grasshopper was in when Eve suddenly commanded him to stop.

  What? Alan asked.

  The location of the Grasshopper seems to be a point of contention between the Legion of Man and United World Government. It is highly unlikely we will be able to enter unharmed.

  Shit. Do you know what ship that girl was heading to?

  Analyzing data… Kitana is designated for the Titan, a Haxlard ambassador ship. Its destination is Khersath, the capital planet of humanoids within the Game.

  Huh, well—

  The Titan’s AI detected my presence accessing its passenger list. It managed to hide its presence on the network somehow. It wishes to communicate with me, accept?

  Uh, sure.

  Alan waited a few seconds, wondering what this was about, then a new message popped up:

  Transfer to Titan, Light Battleship Class, destination Khersath?

  Alan thought for a second, then agreed. Kitana probably knew what the hell was going on, and the capital planet sounded better than Mars. Then again, Alan had no idea who she really was, and if she had anything to do with what was happening right now. He tried to recall what Icewolf had told him. Kitana was the daughter of an influential Japanese businessman, or something like that. One of Icewolf's colleagues had recruited her, a sword instructor. That was it.

  The Titan AI is transferring directions now, through a route which will avoid the fighting, Eve sent.

  Alright.

  Alan began jogging along the new path, away from the hangars towards the series of runways. The jets continued to rain laser fire down from above, causing havoc amongst the United World Government ground forces. Suddenly, two giant green lasers shot out from where Alan was running to, slamming into the jets, disintegrating them.

  Uh, was that the Titan? Alan asked.

  Uncertain.

  Squinting his eyes, Alan could see a faint outline of a small ship landed in the middle of a runway in front of him. Eve classified it as a Haxlard dropship. It was fairly nondescript: a small grey aircraft that looked like a carrier helicopter but without the rotors, designed to carry goods and people to and from larger spaceships. Alan started running faster. He could make out a Haxlard mounted on some sort of assembled laser turret. Alongside him was a truck with Kitana and a group of seven other players, the knight and wizard he'd seen earlier among them.

  As Alan approached, Kitana looked up at him, surprised. The Haxlard, wearing a green mask with a single white, vertical stripe, stepped forward. A few more Haxlards, wearing completely black masks stepped out of the aircraft and began disassembling the turret.

  He is an Ultihaxlard not a Haxlard, Eve told Alan.

  “Greetings Earthling! Blessings to you and yours. You must be Adampwnage, our new addition. I am Pharaoh, the captain of the Titan.”

  “Uh, greetings Ultihaxlard sir, call me Alan,” Alan responded, really wishing Icewolf had used a different username.

  “New addition?” A Hispanic guy in a white suit asked. His body language practically yelled that Alan shouldn’t be here.

  “Yes. Alan here somehow managed to convince the Titan AI to allow him aboard and grant him passage. I'm curious, how did you manage to discern I was an Ultihaxlard?”

  “Uh, my AI told me.”

  “Well, I suppose that answers both questions then. Now that we’re all here, let’s get aboard this dropship so we can get to the Titan.”

  The guy in the suit threw Alan a questioning glance, but followed Pharaoh as he walked up the ramp of the dropship without saying anything. Alan waited until everyone else was in front of him, following Kitana who was the last of the group to walk aboard. Alan noticed a splattering of blood on her robe. Everyone else seemed rather disheveled as well. The knight he had seen earlier was missing his helmet, and there were small tears he noticed in other people’s clothing.

  Pharaoh led them into the loading zone, where five seats aligned each side of the ship, silver rectangular blocks that adjusted for each person that stood in front of them. In the middle there was space for other belongings and cargo, but nothing was there now.

  Pharaoh paused before entering the room where Alan assumed the pilots sat.

  Negative. Dropship most likely piloted by Titan AI, Eve sent.

  “Alright, you’ll all begin the Tutorial once aboard as agreed," Pharaoh said. "You will be joined by Alan. Rest assured we aren’t brainwashing your leaders or anything like that. The Three, blessed be their name, would never stand for it."

  Pharaoh entered the cockpit as every
one sat down.

  Once seated, Alan noticed a metallic seatbelt and strapped it over his waist as he looked up at everyone. Not sure what to say he looked up at the person in the white suit seated directly across from him, and said, “So uh, who are you guys?”

  "I’m Thiago," he said. "I don’t know how you got yourself aboard, but as far as you're concerned we’re a group of arbitrary players that have arranged to be on the same ship to Khersath. I'm more interested in who you are."

  "He's a business acquaintance," Kitana answered for Alan. "What happened after I left?"

  “After the announcement of the bomb, a force field covering the stage and first few rows was activated while people evacuated," Thiago said. "The shield stopped most of the blast, but the people in the back rows weren’t so lucky. We were quickly extracted and found our way here. Where did you go? You disappeared the instant gunfire was heard.” Thiago glanced at the blood on Kitana.

  "I went to find the fighting," Kitana said, calmly staring back at Thiago.

  “Well, um, I’m glad to hear the announcement helped,” Alan said.

  “That was you?” a short, brawny guy asked. He had dark brown hair and wore military fatigues, but carried no weapon. He had a faint Eastern European accent Alan couldn't place.

  "Well it was Eve, my AI, that did it really,” Alan said.

  “How?” he demanded.

  “Uh, well, she was able to access the base’s network, and detect the bomb," Alan stammered, wanting to change the conversation away from his possibly illegal activity. "Now, wait, so everything the senator said was real, there’s this intergalactic federation or something, but all the territory and what not is determined by this game?”

  “Yes, although it’s not quite as dire as it sounds, or at least if it was there'd be more hubbub," a girl sitting next to the short guy said. She was a pretty blonde in a yellow sundress, wearing sandals. That seemed rather impractical to Alan.

  "I'm Daisy, by the way, and this is Ace," she said, pointing to the guy in military fatigues. "My mother is the senator. It cost millions to get us aboard this ship, which is partly why Thiago is so flabbergasted to find you joining us.”

  Alan glanced around at the rest of the group. They didn’t seem particularly remarkable. Except none of them looked too alarmed at having a bomb blow up in front of them.

  “Okay, but how do you know the Legion or whoever they are weren’t telling the truth?" Alan asked. "How do we know the government isn’t already under alien control?”

  “Well, we aren’t certain of the details, as the amount of information we can be told is limited before we complete the Tutorial. That is a key point that you may have missed if you left the tent. Do NOT tell anyone information about the Game, or else the Administrators will penalize you strictly,” Thiago said.

  How would they know? Alan wondered to himself.

  The Administrators likely have eyes and ears everywhere, scanning the internet, phone calls and mechanical inventions, Eve informed Alan.

  Oh. Okay. Not totalitarian at all.

  “Now," Thiago continued, "while we can’t be absolutely certain the government is free, it is unlikely they've been secretly overtaken. The Haxlards allied themselves with us early on and have aided us with new technology and weapons, along with many game capsules.

  "I believe the explanation is if we fell to an enemy group, Earth would be a prime staging point for war with the Haxlards, thus they are trying to ensure our defenses are secure as possible. This Legion of Man is likely funded by the Haxlard’s enemies.”

  “Wait, you said not to tell anyone anything, yet someone clearly explained all this to you beforehand,” Alan said.

  Icewolf gave me information about the Game too, Alan thought.

  “Well, certain information isn’t taboo," Thiago replied. "Yet, exactly what is and isn’t is arbitrarily determined by the Administrators, thus it is better to be safe than sorry, and not really tell anyone anything.”

  Well I should have an interesting conversation with my parents then, once this tutorial phase is done, Alan thought. What was the Game like? Classified. Have any interesting adventures? Maybe.

  The Game has been suboptimal, at least your actions so far, Eve sent. Please optimize your actions for better results. I am not sure how to classify “interesting”.

  Wait, suboptimal? What would you have me do!?

  Yes, you have performed many wasted actions that were unsuccessful, pointless or both. For better results, I would have disarmed the bomb or taken out rebel forces, feats you would have failed at.

  Great, so Eve is a backseat gamer too.

  Thiago begun talking again, and Alan realized that these conversations with Eve were progressing at the speed of thought… that was interesting, and possibly quite useful.

  “Now, there are various Tutorials, and levels of tutorials. Unlike most tutorials which only explain how to play the game, the Tutorial is more of a test. It determines your class and place in the Game, which then determines if you are able to join a decent Academy and Guild. One of the reasons we paid to get here is that we are about to undergo a group Ultihaxlard tutorial, which promises significant rewards should we do well.

  "We know there is going to be a group fighting exercise, thus we have determined the following: KingArthur is going to tank enemy attacks, Daisy will be the medic, and everyone else will be either ranged or melee damage dealers.”

  “And I shall be THE WIZARD,” MadMerlin shouted, leaping up out of his seat, arms stretched wide. He was the person wearing wizard robes.

  “We don’t even know if magic exists in the game yet,” KingArthur, the person in metal armor, murmured to his friend. "Also, seeing as we never read a—"

  “We don’t? Or, do we?” MadMerlin grinned and extended his hand. “Let there be LIGHT!” A small glow emanated from his palm.

  “What!? How did you do that?” A girl sitting between him and Thiago asked. She was just wearing a pair of black jeans with a grey hoody, yet it was clear she had a supermodel’s figure, with long brunette hair and a pair of designer sunglasses.

  “A wizard never reveals his tricks, Aphrodite!” MadMerlin shouted as KingArthur shoved him back into his seat, strapping his seatbelt on, treating MadMerlin like an unruly child.

  Don’t you mean magician? Whatever.

  “Okay, yes,” Thiago said, “and MadMerlin will be the wizard, whatever that means. Now, what role were you thinking of, Alan?”

  Well I was thinking being a sort of scout/sniper, maybe tactician, does that sound good to you, Eve?

  Affirmative.

  “Well, I was thinking I could be a scout, maybe set up traps, gathering information. I think I could be a tactician with my AI's help.”

  “A scout? Do you have any combat experience?” Ace, the guy Alan had thought was a soldier, asked.

  “Well not really, but I usually played a rogue type character in role-playing games, umm…”

  Eve. Help.

  Permission to attempt to access other players’ maps.

  Granted.

  A message apparently appeared in front of the other players in the ship.

  “Should I accept this, Alan? An Eve is requesting the ability to access my UI,” Kitana inquired.

  “Um, yeah, that's my AI. She should be able to give you a minimap and maybe update it, that’s what she’s been doing for me.”

  Eve currently showed the ship in space, the nine other passengers and three other beings in the cockpit. The dropship was now passing by Saturn.

  Wait, we’re passing by Saturn already? Alan sent. Damn, the Game must have given these ships some improvements.

  Negative. Such speeds should be achievable in real life as well with the correct materials.

  Wait, really? That’s impressive. Hey, why didn’t you answer my question this time?

  It was deemed rhetorical.

  Oh, right, keep up the good work.

  “Interesting,” the final person who hadn't introd
uced himself commented. He looked Chinese and wore a black suit with a black shirt. Holstered to his side was a submachine gun, making him look like a gangster.

  “I am DaLong," he said. "We should be approaching the Titan soon then. It’s on a space station beyond Pluto, outside of our solar system. Another reason you shouldn’t worry about the Haxlards: their ships and agents above a certain rank aren’t allowed into our solar system.”

  Yeah, but you did just tell me they built a space station right outside of it, Alan thought. He didn’t say anything aloud though. He was on a Haxlard ship, and felt like a certain degree of paranoia was necessary.

  Alan hadn’t ever really liked picking sides in games before - he more enjoyed picking sides apart. Playing the rogue mercenary, loyal to whomever paid him the most. Now that the fate of humanity and the control of Earth hung in the balance, maybe he should reconsider his main goal of trying to make a bunch of money…

  Negative, Eve sent. Remember the debt you owe Icewolf. Current objectives of wealth and power best course for ability to impact the fate of humanity.

  Uh, okay. Sure Eve. Is it dangerous if I start thinking of Eve as a crazy dictator? Wait, she heard that, didn’t she? Shit.

  Negative, as my master I exist to ensure your safety and growth. Also, I did hear that. However, as you have directed I will never divulge information about what you think or act in such a way that would harm you.

  Uh, great. Cool. Good job me for programming you… sort of.

  “Alright, this will be fairly helpful," Thiago said. "As you noted you don’t have any combat experience, I feel like it would be best if you went out with one of our more experienced members, Ace or Kitana.”

  Alan looked over at Kitana hopefully.

  “I will be paired with Alan,” she said.

  “Excellent. Is there anything else someone would like to say?” Thiago asked.

  “Uh, well unlike you guys it is probably fairly clear I don’t really have connections. So, um, I’m a couple million in debt, and I’m going to try to play this game to make money,” Alan said, wincing as he remembered how much money he owed.